MERPUK
]] tabor in the City of the Corsairs, Umbar]] Wireplay NWN: Roleplay - Untold Tales Of Tolkien II Gold (formerly known as Middle Earth Roleplay UK, or MERPUK) is a low-magic roleplaying persistent world set in the unspecified year of Third Age of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, after Bilbo's disappearance from his birthday party, but before Frodo's departure from the Shire. Unlike many other Lord of the Ring gameworlds, this one is not based on pre-existing LOTRv8 mod, but is built entirely from scratch using several custom tilesets with careful attention to detail. The geography of Middle-earth is faithfully represented by several hundred areas - the Shire alone consists of over thirty, covering several towns and villages. Covered are lands from Forochel in the north to Umbar in the south, and from Grey Havens in the west to the desert of Núrn in the east, with all notable cities and areas from the books represented. All stock items, such as heal kits, potions, and jewelry, have their names and descriptions modified to fit better into the setting. All magical or otherwise enhanced unique items are also Middle-earth themed. Enhanced items are few and hard to get, and still not powerful enough to disrupt the balance. On the other hand, spellcasting classes are made noticably less powerful than in stock NWN by several custom rules and toned-down spells, and have to rely more on careful selection of spells and smart spell combos, rather than blasting everything in sight with direct-damage and instant-death spells. On the whole, the gameworld has strong emphasis on team roleplay in a low-magic setting close to Middle-earth canon. Powergaming is not welcomed, and a number of rules are in place to discourage it. Background The server is hosted by Wireplay UK, and the staff are all unpaid volunteers. Custom rules The gameworld implements a number of custom rules to remain more faithful to the setting, maintain a roleplaying atmosphere, and discourage powergaming. Races Only races present in the Middle Earth canon are allowed. Half-orcs are considered orcs, and must be evil. Gnomes are considered hobbits or goblins depending on alignment and appearance. Dwarves and elves must be good or neutral. Half-elves are not allowed. A list of suggested subraces is available, though specifying a subrace is optional and has no effect on the game. Alignment restrictions are enforced on subraces of men, however: Black Númenóreans, Easterlings, Southrons and Dunlendings must be evil, and all other mannish races must be good or neutral. Classes The following classes are not available: *arcane archer, *pale master, *red dragon disciple, *shadowdancer, *shifter, and *sorcerer. Triple-classing is disabled. Monks are not allowed to multiclass. The following combinations of classes are not allowed: *fighter/barbarian, *fighter/wizard, and *barbarian/wizard. Rogues can multiclass with fighter or barbarian, but such characters are not allowed to use heavy armor. Several custom prestige classes are available: *hobbit shirriff *olog-hai *Black Númenórean The level cap is 28 levels. For a multiclassed character, upon reaching the level cap, he should have a minimum of 10 levels in each class. The following combinations of class and race are prohibited: * elf barbarian, * dwarf monk, * orc wizard, * orc monk, * orc cleric, * orc rogue, and * orc weapon master. Note that all restrictions for the orcs also apply to the goblins (who are represented by evil-aligned gnomes). Feats and skills Devastating critical and hide in plain sight are disabled. Appraise rolls are disabled for merchant NPCs, but are occasionally used in dialogs alongside with bluff, intimidate and persuade. Use magic device DCs are much higher than in stock NWN. All metamagic feats are disabled. Magic There is a large number of changes in the magic system, mostly to do with disabled and restricted spells. The expected outcome is to keep the world low-magic, to remain true to the setting. The following spells are not available: *black blade of disaster *continual flame *greater magic weapon *implosion *improved invisibility *invisibility *invisibility sphere *keen edge *magic vestment *magic weapon *time stop *true seeing *word of faith In addition, earthquake and firestorm are only available to druids, and not to clerics. The maximum duration for the following disabling spells is reduced to 10 rounds: *confusion *dominate monster *dominate person *fear *hold monster *hold person *power word, stun For a large number of spells, a timelock is in effect which does not permit to cast the spell more than once every 15 seconds. This applies to most direct-damage spells. For greater sanctuary, the duration is capped at 5 minutes, and it cannot be cast more than once in 5 minutes. Natural armor bonuses from barkskin range from 1 to 3, rather than from 3 to 5. Energy buffer gives damage resistance 30/-. Stoneskin gives damage reduction of 5/+5. Shadow shield gives damage reduction of 10/+5. Greater stoneskin and ethereal visage both give damage reduction of 15/+5. Premonition gives damage reduction of 20/+5. Elemental shield deals d10 + caster level damage on hit. Harm reduces the target's hit points by half. Raise dead and resurrection require a successful DC roll, and inflict damage on the caster in case of critical failure. Items A number of restrictions on items available to player characters are in effect. *There are no items whose level restriction is above 21. *There are no items granting damage resistance. *There are no items granting immunity, whether to damage or effects, excluding immunity to fear. *There are no items with enhancement bonuses. *Damage bonuses on weapons do not exceed +2d6. *Attack bonuses on weapons do not exceed +4. *Ability bonuses on items do not exceed +8. *Regeneration on items does not exceed 4/round. *Armor can provide AC bonuses up to +5; all other items can provide AC bonuses up to +4. External links *Up-to-date server information - includes server IP, list of required hak paks and optional downloads, and link to the player manual *Middle Earth Roleplay UK Official Website *Neverwinter Nights Series forum at Wireplay *Wireplay NWN Roleplay: Untold Tales Of Tolkien II entry at NWVault Category:Gameworlds